Return of the Shattered Constellation

Chapter 232: Star, the Star Auction (7)

Even the Celestials in the VVIP Room 3 were shocked. With his jaw dropped to the ground, Mars asked, “Hey! Wh-wh-where are you going to get that amount of money…?”

Chang-Sun nonchalantly answered, “Aren’t you going to lend it to me?”

“… What?”

“You aren’t? Mmm… I thought you would sponsor me because you said that you wanted to make me your apostle… Never mind, it seems I was too naive. I’m sorry.”

“Ha, hahaha! No, no! My apostle asked for my help, so who else than I, Mars, would help you?! Leave it to this great fighting deity!” Mars sprang up from his seat and pounded his chest hard several times, pompously telling Chang-Sun to trust him.

Minerva and Mercury quickly exchanged glances.

‘He seems…’

‘... bamboozled.’

Since the two Celestials knew Mars very well, they didn’t miss how his hands were faintly trembling. They also assumed that his back was soaked in sweat. Although they had thought that Chang-Sun would rob Mars, they didn’t expect the robbery to be this large-scale. Considering how prideful Mars was, there was no way that he would back out and say that he couldn’t give the money.

Five hundred billion Karmas? Jupiter and Juno had bequeathed a significant amount of assets to him, but Mars would have to scrap every last one of his Karmas to give Chang-Sun that much. If so, , meaning he could go bankrupt. On the other hand, Minerva and Mercury couldn’t help staring at Chang-Sun, not understanding why Chang-Sun raised the price to a ridiculous level.

『W-we have… f-five hundred billion Karmas! The record that was broken just a moment ago has been broken yet again! These auctions are certainly nail-biting,』the host slowly said, his voice still faintly trembling due to the shock.

『You’ll have to go through the verification process to determine if you have enough assets to pay that bid, however. Are you okay with that?』the host calmly continued, silently asking if Chang-Sun, an unidentified participant who wasn’t even a great <Olympus> Celestial, could actually pay that price. When Chang-Sun nodded, a message window popped up before him.

[Do you agree to disclose the status of your assets? The disclosed information will not be revealed to the public.]

Chang-Sun pressed ‘Y’ without hesitation.

[Your ‘King’s Treasury’ has been checked.]

[The verification process has been completed.]

『Haha! It has been confirmed that you have enough assets. I apologize for putting you through the trouble.』The host bowed.

The participants murmured among themselves, busy guessing Chang-Sun’s identity. Minerva and the other two Celestials were no different.

‘Good thing I have the fortune that the Winter King gave me and the inheritance from <Muspelheim>,’ Chang-Sun thought.

Surtr had left an extremely huge fortune in the ‘Rhaegaren.’ Moreover, after absorbing the <Muspelheim> citizens, Chang-Sun had even unlocked the store window, increasing his wealth even more.

‘Besides, I have accumulated a lot of Karma with the achievements I’ve made.’

Hence, it wasn’t really difficult for Chang-Sun to keep bidding. Five hundred billion Karmas was certainly enough to empty his [King’s Treasury], but it didn’t really matter. After all, he had found Kali’s priests. He could just earn more and fill up the treasury later.

『Five hundred billion. We have five hundred billion. Is there anyone else? In that case, I’ll start my countdown. 5, 4…!』

『Six hundred billion.』

Staring at Chang-Sun from VVIP Room 1, Agares interrupted the host again and crossed his arms. Chang-Sun dumbfoundedly chuckled. He had thought that five hundred billion Karmas would be able to stop anyone from challenging him and that he would be able to leave the auction house with ease. However, despite having already spent five hundred billion Karmas to buy the [Chunjun Sword], Agares was throwing his money in the air again, baffling Chang-Sun.

‘The second strongest demon in the <L’Infernal> won’t really need Gray Elves.’ Chang-Sun frowned slightly.

Agares would surely have many talented subordinates, so Chang-Sun wasn’t sure why he was acting this way right now. Considering Agares was glaring at him, it seemed Agares was intentionally interfering with his plan, leaving Chang-Sun a little dumbstruck.

However, Chang-Sun couldn’t give up now. He scowled back at Agares, making him frown under his puppy mask.

『We… have six hundred billion. Do we have six hundred and ten billion—!』

『Seven hundred billion.』

『… Seven hundred billion. We have seven hundred billion. Does anyone…』

『Eight hundred billion.』

『…!』

Hearing the price exponentially increase, the host held his breath.

* * *

‘Wh-what is going on?’ Moodoo thought, bewildered.

The intense competition between Chang-Sun and Agares shocked her the most. Although there were thousands of Branches, Moodoo was one of the top ninty nine priests. She had already gotten a chance to visit the <Star Auction> while assisting Kali a long time ago.

That was how she found out that Karma wasn't just an ordinary currency that Celestials used. Karma was literally karma, which was every living being’s record of life in the world. For those records to be useful, they had to be valuable, which was why Celestials had been using Karma as their currency.

Nothing was more valuable than Karma to Celestials, who had to make <Myths>. The more Karmas they had, the easier it was for them to increase their divine class. However, those valuable Karmas were currently being thrown in the air. They were bidding enough amount to make one a Celestial. To top it all off, the whole reason behind their competition was to buy all the Branches.

‘Am I that valuable?’ Moodoo couldn’t help asking herself, but she couldn’t answer it. If she were in their position, she would have invested the Karmas to arm her subordinates. The thought only made Moodoo even sadder.

With that amount of money, Kali wouldn’t have had to die in vain. Kali had been famous as an ascetic, however, she had always been so poor that she couldn’t get proper defense facilities in her divine ground. If only Moodoo had money, she thought she could have saved more of her siblings that had been snapped or burned away.

Moodoo grew angrier. She was angry at the two people who were treating her and the other Branches like objects, and she was also furious with herself, who could only stand and glare at VVIP Room 1. Just then…

“…!” Moodoo flinched when she met someone’s eyes.

On each side of Agares, who was wearing a puppy mask, the two demons who had gone to the back of the stage earlier and checked on the Branches were standing like his servants. The taller demon seemed uninterested in the auction, but the shorter demon was looking directly at Moodoo. When their eyes met, Moodoo noticed the shorter demon nodding very slightly.

“Once you go up to the stage, you’ll receive a signal,” the shorter demon said.

Why was Moodoo remembering his remark now?

“Run to the emergency exit to your northwest with your group. Remember that the exit is to your northwest.”

At that moment, an earthquake shook the entire auction house.

Boom! Boom Booooom!

Rumble―!

A series of explosions occurred from everywhere in the hall. Clouds of dust and pebbles fell from the ceiling, and fires rose from the floor.

“Ahhhh!!”

“Wh-what is happening?”

“Is it a terror attack? Who would dare do this?!”

The audience fell into chaos in seconds, and most spectators became furious. The <Star Grave> was a neutral zone, so it was unforgivably rude to commit a terror attack here. To make things worse, they committed such an atrocity against Celestials who were quite influential in their <Societies>.

『Everyone, stay calm! I know it’s sudden, but we’ll be able to arrest the culprits soon. Please stay calm!』

The host tried hard to calm down the audience. Meanwhile, Uriel and his angels had jumped down from the fourth-floor balustrade.

『Who dares do this in my presence?!』

[The Celestial ‘Garden Gatekeeper’ roars in anger because of the invaders!]

At that moment, all the lights in the hall went out, blocking everyone’s view.

“M-Moodoo!”

“It’s okay, Supada. I’m here. Branches, stay calm!” Moodoo muttered under her breath.

She could tell what she should do during this chaos. She didn’t know what happened, and maybe another trap was waiting for the Branches. The terrorists could be using the Branches to maximize the confusion.

Nevertheless, the Branches couldn’t just stand here and blink. Even if their attempt might not end well, shouldn’t they at least try resisting? Solidifying her resolve, Moodoo pulled out the little branch that she had hidden in her sleeve before she had gotten tied up with a mana restraining device.

Clunk, clunk!

The restraining device that had been keeping her hands bound for some time now disengaged and dropped on the floor.

“Moodoo…!”

“You…!”

“Everyone, take it!” Moodoo threw the branch to her colleagues, feeling her mana gradually circulating inside it once again.

The branch transformed into vines and wrapped themselves around the other Branches’ restraining devices.

Clunk, clank,!

Clang, clang, clang―!

The restraining devices disengaged one after another, and the sound of them dropping on the floor echoed.

Woosh…!

An enormous storm of mana rose up on the stage.

[The Gray Elves’ fighting spirits are raging on the stage!]

Kali’s divine ranks were massacre and destruction, which meant those were the absolute truth that her priests should follow. Their main doctrine was that new lives were born only after everything had disappeared, much like how spring would come after winter. Kali’s priests had always cultivated themselves in Himavat, a mountain perpetually covered in snow, because they believed that they would get rid of the mountain’s coldness and make a giant tree sprout on it someday.

The time had come for them to commit massacres and destruction to be reborn.

『N-no—!』

The host, who was with the Branches on the stage, tried to scream after belatedly realizing what the Branches had done. However, Moodoo was faster.

Slash―!

Splash!

Even though the darkness prevented people from seeing anything, Moodoo easily and swiftly cut off the host’s head with a knife-hand strike, causing its head to fly in the air. Just like Moodoo, Kali’s priests were used to using their bodies like weapons. On top of that, Moodoo was a high-ranking priest, so she could also move freely in the darkness.

『Follow me!』Moodoo telepathically told her colleagues and led the way.

“Remember that the exit is on your northwest.”

The smaller demon that had told Moodoo about the signal had also mentioned an emergency exit. Not long after, they came across the exit in question.

Paah Paaah, paah―!

[The Gray Elves are fleeing!]

Just like when they had been working as resistance army soldiers, Moodoo ran in the very front of the group, remembering what the Emperor’s Seat had told her.

“You better stay quiet in the auction house if you want to get what you want.”

‘The ‘Tian Shi Yuan’ was speaking the truth,’ Moodoo thought.

Moodoo didn’t know why the Emperor’s Seat was trying to help the Branches—no, she wasn’t even sure if this demon who was trying to help them was connected to the Emperor’s Seat. Nevertheless, Moodoo didn’t care. All that mattered was that she could escape this dreadful place with the other Branches.

* * *

More explosions erupted.

Rumble…!

“What is happening?” Minerva frowned, looking at the shaking building.

The <Maleakhe> angels and <L’Infernal> demons were watching the place like hawks, but terrorists still dared launch an attack here. No matter how much the two <Societies> had weakened compared to their primes, they were still incomparably more powerful than normal <Societies>.

The innocent sightseeing Celestials were also attacked out of the blue, so they were bound to become furious in no time as well. It didn’t matter who the terrorists were. They would all become the public enemy of <Heaven> and would soon get arrested.

The problem was these terrorists’ motives. Was it because they felt as if they wouldn’t be able to get their hands on the [Chunjun Sword] and Kali’s priests? Or did they have other reasons…? After considering a variety of possibilities, Minerva decided that she should get out of the place first.

‘I’ll still have time to find out what exactly happened after I get out…!’ Minerva thought.

Suddenly having a bad feeling, she stopped thinking and looked around the room, which she had lit up with her sacred light. As soon as she did, she realized someone was missing.

“Wait…?” Minerva murmured.

Chang-Sun wasn’t in the room.